Editing Dual (grammatical number) (section)

===Greek===
The dual can be found in Ancient Greek Homeric texts such as the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', although its use is only sporadic, owing as much to artistic prerogatives as dictional and metrical requirements within the [[Hexameter|hexametric meter]]. There were only two distinct forms of the dual in Ancient Greek.

In classical Greek, the dual was lost, except in the [[Attic dialect]] of [[Athens]], where it persisted until the fifth century BC. Even in this case, its use depended on the author and certain stock expressions.

In [[Koine Greek]] and [[Modern Greek]], the only remnant of the dual is the numeral for "two", {{lang|el|δύο}}, {{lang|el-Latn|dýo}}, which has lost its genitive and dative cases (both {{lang|grc|δυοῖν}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|dyoīn}}) and retains its nominative/accusative form.  Thus it appears to be undeclined in all cases.  Nevertheless, [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]], the foremost authority of his time (early 2nd century BC) on grammar and style, and a staunch defender of "proper" High Attic tradition, admonishes those who write ''{{lang|grc|δυσί}}'' (''{{lang|grc-Latn|dysí}}'') (dative, plural number) rather than the "correct" ''{{lang|grc|δυοῖν}}'' (''{{lang|grc-Latn|dyoīn}}'') (dative, dual number).{{Citation needed|date = June 2015}}